Eerie moment power cuts out during Hurricane Idalia press conference
The impact of an unprecedented hurricane which landed in Florida this morning was perfectly illustrated during a press conference.
Hurricane Idalia made landfall on Wednesday morning – making it the first major storm to pass through Florida’s Big Bend region.
Idalia had grown into a Category 2 system on Tuesday and became a Category 3 on Wednesday, before strengthening to a Category 4 and then weakening slightly to a high-end Category 3.
Four states have declared states of emergency as winds are predicted to reach 130mph as Idalia travels across Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.
Fallen trees have brought down power lines and water has been seen rushing through the streets due to increased rainfall.
It’s thought more than 230,000 people have been left without power – and one person affected was Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
Mr DeSantis was in the middle of a press conference on Wednesday morning when the power suddenly cut out, leaving him and his team in darkness.
The eerie moment was captured as his safety warning was broadcast live.
During the conference he said: ‘This is going to be a major hurricane and we just hope everybody stays safe, don’t put your life at risk by doing anything dumb at this point.
‘This thing’s powerful. If you’re inside, just hunker down until it gets past you.
‘You don’t wanna be messing around with these winds, everything’s flying around all over the place.
‘Storm surges are expected to reach up to 16ft in some areas – that level of storm surge is life threatening.
‘Do not go outside in the midst of this storm. If it’s calm where you are, it may be because you’re in the eye of the storm and those conditions will change very, very quickly.’
Hurricanes are measured on a five category scale, with a Category 5 being the strongest.
A Category 3 storm is the first on the scale considered a major hurricane and the National Hurricane Centre says a Category 4 storm brings ‘catastrophic damage’.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently said the 2023 hurricane season would be far busier than initially forecast, partly because of extremely warm ocean temperatures.
The season runs until November 30, with August and September typically the peak.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.